Civil Engineering. (of a bridge truss) having a deck or floor upon or above the structure.Compare through(def 22).

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verb (used with object)

to clothe or attire (people) or array (rooms, houses, etc.) in something ornamental or decorative (often followed by out): We were all decked out in our Sunday best. The church was decked with holly for the holiday season.

to furnish with a deck.

Informal. to knock down; floor: The champion decked the challenger in the first round.

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Idioms

clear the decks,

to prepare for combat, as by removing all unnecessary gear.

to prepare for some activity or work, as by getting rid of hindrances.

hit the deck, Slang.

Nautical.to rise from bed.

to fall, drop, or be knocked to the ground or floor.

on deck,

Baseball.next at bat; waiting one's turn to bat.

Informal.next in line; coming up; scheduled.

Informal.prepared to act or work; ready.

play with/have a full deck, Slang. to be sane, rational, or reasonably intelligent: Whoever dreamed up this scheme wasn't playing with a full deck.

Word Origin and History for decker

deck

v.2

"knock down," c.1953, probably from deck (n.) on the notion of laying someone out on the deck. Related: Decked; decking.

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deck

n.

"covering over part of a ship," mid-15c., perhaps a shortening of Middle Low German verdeck (or a related North Sea Germanic word), a nautical word, from ver- "fore" + decken "to cover, put under roof," from Proto-Germanic *thackjam (related to thatch, q.v.).

Sense extended early in English from "covering" to "platform of a ship." "Pack of cards" is 1590s, perhaps because they were stacked like decks of a ship. Deck chair (1884) so called because they were used on ocean liners. Tape deck (1949) is in reference to the flat surface of old reel-to-reel tape recorders.

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deck

v.1

"adorn" (as in deck the halls), early 15c., from Middle Dutch dekken "to cover," from the same Germanic root as deck (n.). Meaning "to cover" is from 1510s in English. Replaced Old English þeccan. Related: Decked; decking.